I found a dog soup restaurant just a moment's walk from my house. I'm going to give it a try in the near future, you know, just so I can say I did. Apparently in korea they only use a particular non-pet breed of dog, in order to maintain a healthy psychological disconnect for patrons many of whom own dogs for pets back home.
I think people do a lot of stuff so they can add the experience to the list of 'things they've done' in conversation for years to come, rather than for the experience itself. Not so much overtly, but I think it's a motivation for many people's decisions, especially when it comes to travel. I've been here for 9 months now (past the half-way point of a 16-month stint), and it feels so dramatically different every month from the last, in terms of how I see the culture. I can remember the sense of Seoul I had in September, even in October and into the winter, and it was so different and heavily informed by my life in Victoria.
These days, I've been to many places, seen nearly all the seasons and traditions, learned a great deal about the country's history, and even learned a bit of the language (surely the least accessible part of Korea). Spending this much time in a different part of the world really changes you, while merely travelling offers a very limited set of experiences.
Not to say that travel is bad or not fun or useless (I'm probably jetting to Thailand in August)! But don't expect to go somewhere for a few weeks and return enlightened about a different culture. That kind of thing takes a long time and I feel like even a year and change won't be quite enough for me.
And then there's the paradox about the scientist's mere presence effecting the outcome of the experiment. Unfortunatly I stick out like a tall, blond, blue-eyed sore thumb, and everyone tends to act differently when I'm in the room, restaurant, or wherever else. There really aren't that many westerners here (I'm surprised to see more than one non-Korean in a day in my part of town), so we're still worthy of more attention than we're worth. That's the tricky part.
I think people do a lot of stuff so they can add the experience to the list of 'things they've done' in conversation for years to come, rather than for the experience itself. Not so much overtly, but I think it's a motivation for many people's decisions, especially when it comes to travel. I've been here for 9 months now (past the half-way point of a 16-month stint), and it feels so dramatically different every month from the last, in terms of how I see the culture. I can remember the sense of Seoul I had in September, even in October and into the winter, and it was so different and heavily informed by my life in Victoria.
These days, I've been to many places, seen nearly all the seasons and traditions, learned a great deal about the country's history, and even learned a bit of the language (surely the least accessible part of Korea). Spending this much time in a different part of the world really changes you, while merely travelling offers a very limited set of experiences.
Not to say that travel is bad or not fun or useless (I'm probably jetting to Thailand in August)! But don't expect to go somewhere for a few weeks and return enlightened about a different culture. That kind of thing takes a long time and I feel like even a year and change won't be quite enough for me.
And then there's the paradox about the scientist's mere presence effecting the outcome of the experiment. Unfortunatly I stick out like a tall, blond, blue-eyed sore thumb, and everyone tends to act differently when I'm in the room, restaurant, or wherever else. There really aren't that many westerners here (I'm surprised to see more than one non-Korean in a day in my part of town), so we're still worthy of more attention than we're worth. That's the tricky part.
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